Putin said his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad had told him he was ready to talk to armed opposition groups if they are genuinely committed to dialogue and to combating Islamic State.
Washington has said it could tolerate Assad during a short transition period, but that he would then have to then exit the political stage.
At a news conference in Cairo with Egypt’s Sameh Shoukry, Jubeir said: “I believe that there has been a few progress and positions have moved closer on finding a solution to the Syrian crisis, but I can not say that we have reached an agreement”. Unlike Saudi Arabia, which backs a few Syrian rebel groups, Egypt has welcomed Russian air strikes in Syria against insurgents.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and King Salman of Saudi Arabia on Saturday called for greater worldwide efforts to restore stability to Syria without Assad at its helm.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Saudi Arabia’s ruler Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud have pledged to further boost anti-Syrian-government militants and reiterated the need for resolving Syria’s crisis without its incumbent president involved, Al-Alam reports.
Mohammad al-Nimr, the prominent cleric’s brother, said in a message on social media on Sunday that the Saudi Supreme Court and an appellate court had approved the execution of the Shia cleric and authorized the Saudi Interior Ministry to carry out the sentence.
The U.S. and Saudi comments came hours after Russia’s foreign minister said that Assad had discussed the potential for fresh elections during a visit to Moscow last week.
RIA said Assad held the meeting with Russian lawmakers at his residence in Damascus on Sunday morning.
Rebels have appealed for more military support from foreign backers, including Saudi Arabia, to confront major Syrian army offensives.
Russian Federation would like regional actors Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Iran included in future talks, but the Saudis have balked at sitting down with their regional rival, Tehran. “That is the position of the kingdom and that is the position of most countries in the world”.
